EUCLID, Ohio — A man is in custody after he allegedly stabbed his girlfriend, poured gasoline on her and dragged her through a yard on New Year's Day, according to a heavily-redacted police report from the Euclid Police Department that withheld names and locations.
Shortly before 11 p.m., officers responded to a home where a woman was found with several stab wounds in her back, the report states.
The woman told police on scene she and her live-in boyfriend started arguing about their relationship when he became violent, grabbing knives from the kitchen drawers and stabbing her in the back. She was able to escape the home, but he followed her outside and began pouring gasoline all over her body.
According to the report, once outside, she began knocking on nearby residences, asking for help. One resident came to the front door, but the man dragged her away into the yard, according to police.
Residents told police that they witnessed the man drag her by one leg while she yelled for help.
The man dropped her in the middle of the yard before he walked up the driveway and entered a Nissan Rogue. He backed out of the driveway, put it in drive and drove the vehicle straight into the front yard at the woman, the report states.
The woman was crawling on the ground trying to get away and screaming, "He's gonna hit me," according to the report.
She was able to hide behind a small tree in the front yard, police said. The man attempted to back up the car and drive at her a second time, but the damage caused by the first initial impact with the tree prevented the vehicle from operating properly, the report states.
While surveying the yard, police found a shirt soaked in gasoline with blood on it. A red gas cap and a kitchen knife with blood on it were also found in the yard, according to the report.
Police returned to the original crime scene where they found all four gas pilots on the stove activated. The first floor bedroom was in disarray, with a large flat screen TV turned over on the floor, police said. It appeared there was a struggle inside the bedroom, the report states.
East Cleveland police located the man accused of stabbing the woman while he was driving a Ford Focus on Euclid Avenue. He was taken into custody at the Cuyahoga County Euclid Jail Annex and then transferred downtown to the main Cuyahoga County Jail after making suicidal comments.
The woman was taken to Cleveland Clinic Hillcrest Hospital for multiple stab wounds.
